1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the deployment of sensors, and more particularly, to gun fired sensor platforms for deploying a plurality of sensors for detecting and tracking objects, including people, within a wide-area.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, numerous sensors and sensory systems have been developed to detect and warn of the presence of chemical and biological agents, intruder detection and tracking and other similar purposes. Many of these sensors have found applications in safety, homeland security and other similar civilian and military areas. For sensors used in applications such as biological and chemical detection to be effectively used in the field, they have to be small and assembled in small packaging. The sensors must also require low power, be capable of remote operation, and must be capable of one or two-way communication with a central station or networked using some wireless technology. These are very challenging tasks and have been an area of very active research and development efforts, which has made a wide range of sensors available.
A challenging task in the development of wireless sensor capability is the development of appropriate means and platforms for their deployment. This is particularly the case for many of the homeland security applications in which the sensors have to be deployed in hazardous or potentially contaminated environments and/or in dangerous locations. For example, consider the situation in which a building or an area is suspected of being contaminated with a deadly chemical or biological agent. In such a situation, the main challenge is to find a safe method for the deployment of the appropriate sensory system without putting personnel at harms way and/or risk the spread of contamination. The option of sending personnel with protective gear is highly risky, can result in the contamination to be spread over larger areas, nearly defeats the efforts of sensor miniaturization and wireless communications, is impractical when armed terrorists are suspected to be present within the building or in the area or when the place is suspected of being booby trapped or is very hard to reach with the cumbersome protective gear. Another option is to employ a robotic device and guide it into position from a safe distance. However, most of the aforementioned issues for sensor delivery by a human are still valid for currently available mobile robotic systems. In addition, mobile robots have to be brought very close to the point of deployment, putting personnel at risk and/or increasing the chances of spreading contaminations, and they cannot climb walls or go into the building through windows or even readily climb stairs or go around hard to maneuver obstacles. In addition, robotic systems developed to date do not possess the intelligence, mobility and agility to be effective for sensor deployment from a safe distance, particularly in a hostile environment. Mobile robots also consume very large amount of power, thereby limiting their range and duration of operation. Direct human and robotic deployment methods also have the disadvantage of eliminating the element of surprise and covert deployment.
A need therefore exists for the development of deployment methods and systems for remote sensors for the detection of chemical and biological agents, remote sensors for the detection of unauthorized intrusion and tracking of intruders or objects such as cars and trucks, and other similar remote sensors. In almost any scenario, it is highly desirable to have the capability of deploying remote sensors and sensor networks from a safe distance, even while out of line of sight of the intended site. In addition, in certain situations, remote sensors may have to be deployed quickly in very hard to reach places such as the ceiling of a warehouse, the side of a building, the side or top of a hill or mountain, high up on trees, and even over a hostile territory. The aforementioned safe distance for deployment may be in tens of meters in certain situations and in kilometers in other situations.